


Supernatural creatures for dummies

by Galadriel87



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - High School, Awesome Lydia, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Mates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-20
Updated: 2014-02-01
Packaged: 2018-01-09 10:49:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1145073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galadriel87/pseuds/Galadriel87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles is just trying to get by in his new school: School for Magical and Supernatural Creatures. It's not made any easier by his own unfortunate powers and trying to help a loner wolf who doesn't want to be helped.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi,  
> this is my first fanfic, I am still just learning. Please, be kind :)  
> Unbetaed. Please, let me know if you'd be interested in helping me out and being my beta, it would be greatly appreciated. Any kind of feedback would be great!  
> I am almost done with two more chapters of the story, so I hope to update very soon.  
> Cheers, Galadriel.

**_Chapter 1_ **

_Supernatural creatures for dummies, 3rd edition_

_extract from Chapter 17: Sparks are people too!_

_‘True sparks are extremely rare, less than 500 have been documented in the recent history, partly explained by the fact that sparks are incredibly hard to detect. The only way to say that for sure is to perform a variety of powerful spells on a person (see Appendix for the whole list of the Spark Trial Tests): if none of them work, this person is considered a spark. Many people think that the main characteristic of a spark is their ability to channel and amplify other people’s magic. But not all of them can do that; as a matter of fact less than half of the officially identified sparks possessed this ability._

_Resistance to all types of magic influence is what often makes them feared and ostracized in the magic community. Imagine an angel that cannot become invisible to a certain person, or a witch that cannot perform even a simplest of spells to protect herself, or a skinwalker who cannot hide behind an assumed identity. As you can see, a spark can be incredibly dangerous if he or she chooses to hunt magical creatures. Some of the most famous and ruthless inquisitors during the infamous Witch Hunts of the Dark Ages were, indeed, sparks. These inquisitors often considered themselves to be blessed by God with the gift of seeing through sorcery, rather than recognize this as a magic ability to withstand other magical spells._

_(editor’s notes: actually, debates on this point still continue. No one has yet been able to definitively say whether the abilities of a spark are passive or active in their magical nature)._

_There are a number of myths concerning the possible ways of making sparks vulnerable to spells. Belladonna, wolfsbane, witch’s root are often mentioned as possessing this ability. These, however, are only myths: the only time in which a spark is susceptible to the influence of external magic is the time during which he or she is acting as a channel in a ritual or spell. Since these periods are obviously very brief, being exhausting, and since not all sparks are even capable of acting as a channel, sparks are understood to be impervious to magic for all practical purposes._

_All of us grew up hearing stories about the role of sparks in the hunts for supernatural creatures, from witches to skinwalkers to werewolves, and listening to bedtime stories, like “The Little Mermaid and the Evil Spark”, “Spark Edwin -the witch murderer”. Chances are, you will never knowingly interact with a spark in your whole life, but if you do, try to be understanding and tolerant with them. Remember, sparks are not evil by nature, and introducing them to the magic world early on usually lets them become harmless members of our society. Remember, Sparks are people too!’_

 

Stiles closed the book and groaned. Well, this kind of explained why no students acted friendly towards him once they realized what he was. He was so excited to start attending the Fourth School for Magical and Supernatural Creatures, hoping that this would be a much better experience than his previous normal high school. No such luck. If anything, it was even worse. Everyone was avoiding him, even the skinwalker, who, in Stiles opinion, looked so scary that he should be repelling any human interaction whatsoever. Then again, the skinwalker was actually pretty popular with the ladies… According to the book, they probably saw something completely different from what Stiles saw. The book he was reading was hardly a great intro to the supernatural world, but that was the only one they let him check out of the library before classes started, and Stiles felt very impatient. He knew absolutely nothing about this new world, and he hated not knowing things.

And now he finds out that apparently everyone in the magic community hated his powers. Adding insult to injury, he still hasn’t been able to act as a channel, making him feel even more useless. That’s what he left Beacon Hills and his father for, seriously? His father didn't want to let him transfer in the first place, but Dr. Deaton was really good at persuading people.  

Stiles has been on the campus for a whole week already, and he made no new friends. Everyone just gave him the cold shoulder. The classes haven’t started yet, he couldn’t check out any worthwhile books from the library… He was bored and annoyed, and life sucked.

That’s when he met Scott.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_Supernatural creatures for dummies, 3rd edition_

_extract from Chapter 6: Werewolves: fact and fiction_

_6.2 Packs and Snacks_

_As we explained in section 1 of this chapter, lycanthropy is a purely genetic condition. There are numerous legends in the non-magic community stating that a bite from a werewolf can turn a human into one. The myth was probably created by werewolves who were captured and were facing persecution from human authorities but didn’t want to implicate their relatives. They might have come up with a story that some unknown werewolf bit them and turned them, but their own family is fully human. As you can see, human authorities are often very gullible. Lycanthropy-associated genes are recessive, and not completely penetrant. That is, even those with two copies of the gene do not always exhibit werewolf characteristics (for the full list of werewolf characteristics, see section 6.1)._

_Educating a young werewolf to control their shift and consequent violent tendencies is the task for the adults in the werewolf pack. Young wolves left, for whatever reasons, on their own, used to be put down, if no pack claimed them. This barbaric practice, however, was stopped in the US in the late 19th century, with the establishment of werewolf sanctuaries (under the guise of so-called “National Parks”, did we mention how gullible humans are?),  and later with the decision to admit werewolves into Schools for Magic and Supernatural Creatures, along with other species. This decision was the result of a long legal battle, many parents being uneasy with their children learning and living alongside potentially violent students. This court decision was another step in the long struggle for equal rights for were-creatures, which unfortunately still continues to this day._

_That said, one should always remember not to provoke werewolves, especially before they locate their mate. You might just become a snack for one of them, and werewolf bite remains one of the few magical poisons that has no antidote.’_

  


Scott used to live in Beacon Hills, same as Stiles. This was the first thing that made them talk to each other, and Scott was the only person so far, who didn't mind the fact that Stiles was a spark.

‘Wow, that’s cool. What’s a spark?’ - was Scott’s reaction.

Even after Stiles explained the concept to him, he was still fine with it. Stiles : 1; Prejudice : 0! Well, by now he’s met enough students that it was actually Prejudice : 48, but who’s counting?  

Scott was a werewolf. He started attending this school last year, when he reached the equivalent of werewolfy puberty at 15 and found out that he had a tendency to grow fangs and claws every full moon. Apparently, no one was aware of werewolves in Scott’s family history, so no one knew that both his parents were carriers for this recessive gene.

It was very rare to find werewolves in this school, or in any magic school for that matter. Werewolves were pack creatures, and didn’t like sending their young ones away God knows where. Scott didn’t have a pack, so he was admitted to the SMSC. There were only five other werewolves here, brought in by various circumstances, often unfortunate ones. Every wolf would rather stay with their pack, if they had a choice. There were Erica and Boyd, from a pack near Sacramento, whose territory was badly damaged by forest fires several months ago. They had to send the two young betas to school, since no adults could pay enough attention to them. There was Jackson, whose exact story nobody knew for sure. He seemed to be a pretty normal werewolf, but rumor had it that he was almost turned into a kanima last summer and his pack was now too scared to let him stay. Jackson was a douchebag, but Stiles still felt bad for him. What kind of family does that to one of their own members? For now, while they were in school, Scott and Jackson officially belonged to Mr Ennison’s pack, the resident alpha wolf, who was also the professor of Shapeshifting studies. Once they were ready to graduate they would have to search for a pack to take them in.

Then there was the fifth student, Derek Hale. His story was the weirdest, in Stiles’ opinion. Derek belonged to a large well-established pack in Eastern California, and no one kicked him out of it. His problem and the reason why he was enrolled in SMSC was that he hadn't found his mate yet. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_Supernatural creatures for dummies, 3rd edition_

_extract from Chapter 6: Werewolves: fact and fiction_

_6.3 Mates: do you have a chance with a werewolf?_

_‘Werewolves are unfortunately incapable of fully controlling themselves left to their own devices. Once a werewolf hits puberty, he or she starts shifting regularly and can become very violent during those times. On their own, werewolves also cannot control their emotions very well, and are prone to shifting and attacking others when angry or scared.  Having a pack helps a lot to control these problems, but it is ultimately essential that the wolf has a strong connection to another sentient being, a so-called mate._

_Most of the time mates are also were-creatures, but an occasional human or witch in this role is not that unusual. Contrary to popular belief (that ends in many a broken heart), mates are not chosen by the werewolf in question, but are rather selected in a seemingly random pattern by a so-far unidentified agent.When the shifts start happening, a location spell is performed by a local magic practitioner to find out who that person is. Luckily, the location spell always works if performed correctly, there are no recorded instances of failure. Nobody yet understands the rules by which mates are selected. The age difference between the mated pair is usually no more than 7 years, and the distance between them at the time of the spell execution is usually no more than 50 miles, though there are exceptions even to these rules. Everything else is completely unpredictable, including gender, personality, appearance or socioeconomic status. Not that something like this matters, because werewolves unavoidably feel a bond with their mates, and aggressively pursue them as romantic partners. Most of the time they succeed in attracting their mate, though there are quite a few tragic stories of unrequited love (which is especially sad because werewolves are incapable of having romantic interest in anyone other than their mate). Anchoring does not require a relationship or even geographic proximity. As long as one’s mate is alive, the werewolf is grounded and can control their shift and aggression._

_So, boys and girls, a bit of practical advice: no matter how hot that werewolf in your class is (and as we all know, they are unfortunately always hot!), they will never love you unless you are lucky enough to be their mate. Chances of that, though, are very-very low, so don’t waste your time, and give that cute vampire in your class a chance!’_  

 

Derek was 18 years old. And he still hadn’t found his bond mate. Seems like he was the first werewolf in recorded history with this problem, and there he was, in SMSC, because that was the only place in California that could contain an unmated 18-year-old werewolf of Derek’s size under some semblance of control. What this meant for Derek is drinking specially prepared potions to calm his wolf, wearing a collar and handcuffs covered in runes and being chained down in the school’s dungeon for several days every full moon cycle. In other words, it sucked. Derek had almost no friends, because everybody was too scared of him. The guy got angry rather easily, and when he did, he wolfed out and became super dangerous.

‘How is it even possible, that Derek can’t locate his mate? Maybe she is dead?’ - Stiles asked Scott. They were sitting outside, skipping ‘History of Magic and Supernatural Creatures during the Cold War’ lecture. That class was boooring.

‘I don’t know, it must be something really bad. Probably really powerful blood magic or something. Werewolf mate-locating spells are some of the strongest in existence’ - Scott sounded rather proud of this fact, like he was personally involved in creating them -’And his mate can’t be dead, Derek would also be dead by now if that were true. Maybe it is a dark witch or something, a really powerful one.’ That’s all he learned from Scott so far, and it only made Stiles more curious. It was purely academic interest, and had nothing to do with the fact that the werewolf was hot. Damn werewolves.

Next time he saw Derek in one of his elective classes, Stiles tried to act as nonchalant as possible and sat next to him. Derek was sitting on his own, as always.

‘Hey, my name’s Stiles. What’s yours?’ - Stiles decided to pretend he was not a creeper and didn’t know anything about the other student.

‘It’s Derek’

The silence that followed was oppressing.

‘Soooo, why are you taking Shapeshifting studies?’

‘I am a werewolf. You? You don’t feel like a shapeshifter’

‘Well, my best friend here is a werewolf too. And there are no classes for me, since my special skill is pretty much doing nothing. I am a spark. Please, don’t run away,’

Derek just shrugged in response,

‘At least you can channel magic from other people’

‘You would think so, right? Aaaand you’d be wrong. I keep practicing with Dr Deaton, I tried and tried, and I just can’t do it! I feel so useless! Everyone else can do something, all I can do, apparently, is see the skinwalker’s real face! Which is not pretty, by the way.’ - it was, somehow, easy to talk to Derek about this. It felt like he wouldn’t judge or be mean about it.

‘Maybe you should work for the law enforcement?’ - Derek now kind of looked like he might be smiling. Maybe. - ‘What if that skinwalker commits a crime and needs to be identified in his true form, or an angel goes rogue, and no one can find him, except you.’

‘Yeah, what are the chances of an angel going rogue? They are all goody-two-shoes, every single one of them. Didn’t our history professor say they haven’t had any problems with the law-enforcement for the past 25 centuries, since Lucifer? And all he did was run away from Heaven and start a stupid anarchist organization.’

By the end of the lecture, Stiles felt like he might have made a new friend.

 

Through Derek, Stiles met Erica and Boyd, who were pretty cool, if intimidating on first sight. In his Theoretical Spellwork class he was introduced to the awesomeness that was Lydia Martin. She was a genius witch, appreciated Stiles’ suggestions on spell design, and didn’t make (too much) fun of him for his inability to actually perform magic.   

Overall, things were looking up. Until they didn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of things are going to happen in the next chapter, so stay tuned :)


	4. Chapter 4.1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will publish part II of this chapter within 2 days :)  
> Thank you to everyone who is reading this story!

**Chapter 4.1**

_Supernatural creatures for dummies, 3rd edition_

_extract from Chapter 2: Witches: you think you know them, but you have no idea._

_2.3 Theoretical Witchcraft_

_We wanted to dedicate this section to the discussion of the basic principles of spellwork, as this is the area most misunderstood by the supernatural community. Most people who have never studied the theory of spellwork erroneously assume that the whole process is completely powered by the witch’s own energy. This is a laughable idea, as even the most powerful witch only has enough of her own power to transform the physical shape of her body and, possibly, small objects in her immediate vicinity. Anything more than that always requires external energy of the spell ingredients, with the spellcaster’s own power required for the initial catalysis of the reaction. Rote memorization is sufficient for many practicing witches, who don’t try to make up their own spells or modify the existing ones. The creation of new spells requires understanding of the energies associated with different ingredients._

_Here is a simple example: Cupid’s arrow berries, by themselves, have been used in love potions since the early 13th century. Four centuries later an incredibly talented witch, Elena Toropovitz, recognized that this ingredient acts through the sense of smell, making the scent of the spellcaster incredibly attractive to the target. She then mixed the berries with two additional ingredients, aimed at improving one’s olfactory perception and clearing previous olfactory memories, to create a love potion of incredible potency. It is so strong that it is currently banned under the Non-magical Creatures’ Rights Committee provisions._

_It is important to note that the strength of spells increases non-linearly as ingredients are added, because the components interact in cooperative and often unpredictable ways. That is, a spell with 3 components acts not three times, but often 6-10 times stronger than the simple sum of the separate components. This is why theoretical spellwork is so important and so exciting, and remains one of the most lucrative areas of work in the magic community. More than 70% of the total US National Supernatural Research Council budget goes to this field, and the lowest unemployment rate, even during economic downturn times, is amongst people who are trained in theoretical witchcraft. This is something to keep in mind as you are choosing your college major._

 

‘Hey, what class do you have next?’- Stiles was out of breath, trying to keep up with Lydia, who walked faster than him, even wearing 6-inch heels.

‘I don’t have a class now. I have independent study with Prof Chen’

Yu-fan Chen was the professor of Theoretical Witchcraft, and she hated working on individual projects with students, as she felt that it was nothing but a distraction from her actual research work.  Privately, Stiles thought that if she felt this way, she shouldn’t have decided to teach in high school, but no one asked his opinion on the subject.

‘Wow, that’s really great. What project are you working on?’

Lydia seemed hesitant to reply.

‘I shouldn’t really tell you, since we are trying to publish this work once it’s completed… But I really want to talk to someone about it, and... I trust you. I have been working on a completely new type of search spell for the past seven months. It is very different from anything that has been published or used before’ - Lydia looked flushed from excitement. This Lydia was Stiles’ favorite.- ‘All search or location spells used currently use the person who is initiating the search as the focus and the energy source for the spell. It works great most of the time, but there are certain types of magical approaches that can hide the target. What I have been working on, is a spell that uses the energy of the object that needs to be found. There are some caveats to that, obviously. The object that is being sought has to actually belong to the person who is doing the search, or to the person on whose behalf the search spell is being performed. But is also works if the object used to belong to that person, or will belong to them once found’

‘Wait, but it will obviously belong to the person once they found it, so how can it work based on ‘future ownership’?

‘Oh, Stiles, finding something and having it belong to you are very very different things, philosophically and magically speaking’ - Lydia was looking at Stiles in a condescending way. Now, that was Stiles’ least favorite Lydia. Stiles was annoyed now.

‘And it actually works?’

‘Obviously it works! Though I’ve only tried it once...’- Lydia looked a bit uncomfortable now- ‘We tried it on my shoe, after I used three different masking spells on it. I know that it has tremendous potential, and Prof Chen agrees with me. All the calculations have to be right. The only reason why we haven’t tried it with really complicated tasks is because it requires some hard-to-get ingredients. Prof Chen got me enough for the shoe spell and no more, but I am 100% sure that once we really get down to it, I will be able to break blood-spell grade cloaks on lost things. It will revolutionize the field, I just know it.’ - now she looked wistful.

Stiles really hoped that one day he would be able to do cool things like this. But for now he had to run to his ‘Blending in in human societies’ class.

 

 

Stiles all but forgot about this conversation, when a disturbing piece of information brought this back to his attention.

He was eating dinner with Scott, who, for once didn’t seem to have much of an appetite, barely picking up anything from his plate. This was very unusual for the werewolf, to say the least. The guy ate a LOT, and even under stress, his appetite seemed to only go up.

‘Did you have a fight with Alison or something?’

‘No...’

‘Then what? You are acting weird’

‘Nothing. It’s just something I heard Ennison talk about. It’s just… disturbing.’

‘Just tell me what it is, you are making me imagine all kinds of scary shit. Is someone dying?’

This was supposed to be a joke, but Scott only looked more morose.

‘It’s about Derek. It’s kind of personal. I wasn’t supposed to hear it, Ennison was talking to someone on the phone and I kind of overheard… You know how Derek has this control problem?’

Stiles nodded.

‘Well, I thought that just meant that Derek would have to live at the school all his life, which would suck, but it’s not too bad, I think. So Ennison was telling someone, that it probably won’t work with Derek for much longer… He is from a pretty powerful family, and they have super undiluted blood. They’ve apparently had less non-werewolves in their bloodline than any other pack this side of the Atlantic, and Derek is supposed to be an alpha, like his sister Laura. Basically, he’s, like, super strong even for a werewolf. As he is maturing, it will be impossible to control him, even with the runes and potions and stuff. He will have to return home, and they’ll probably have to keep him in chains all the time. And the werewolf bite is just as toxic to other werewolves as it is to other creatures, so they will probably kill him if he doesn’t want to spend his whole life locked up… It’s just. It’s fucked up. Hey, Stiles, are you alright?’

Stiles had a very unpleasant realization that he couldn’t breathe. He hadn’t had a panic attack in the past 5 years, and now it was coming back with a vengeance. It took 15 minutes of sitting down and being held by Scott for Stiles to start breathing normally again. And then he was just angry. A rational part of his brain was telling him that he didn’t really have the right to be angry. Derek didn’t owe him that information, they haven’t even been friends for that long, and it’s not like Stiles has spent a lot of time sharing his deepest secrets with the guy. But the feeling of betrayal Stiles was feeling was overwhelming, if irrational. It was hard to explain, but Stiles felt a certain connection to Derek, like they were more than mere acquaintances or even friends. It didn’t make any sense, but it was real, and thinking of Derek leaving, and maybe even dying, without talking to Stiles about it was just driving him absolutely crazy.

‘Scott, we have to find Derek’

Scott was decidedly against going and finding Derek right now, especially considering that the information he shared was obtained by eavesdropping. He might have been able to talk Stiles out of this plan, had not Derek himself appeared at that  moment.

‘Why do you have to find Derek?’- he looked suspicious.

Any kind of control Stiles had been able to regain left him that very moment.

‘You son of a bitch, when were you going to tell me… tell us that you were going to fucking die?!’

‘Stiles, what are you talking about?’

‘Apparently, they can’t control you forever, so you will have to leave and probably be killed for everyone’s fucking safety!’

‘Apparently, Scott talks too much, about things that are none of his business!’ - As Derek was getting angrier, he started to shift: his eyes turned red and his canines were growing longer. Stories about his increasing control problems were clearly not exaggerated, as in the next moment he charged in Scott’s direction. Scott was stuck frozen in place, Stiles (because he had a goddamn superhero complex) jumped in front of him, and got bitten in his place. Oh joy.

The next thing he remembered seeing was Derek, five meter away from him, staring with a shocked expression at Siles’ arm. Then Scott, also staring with a shocked expression at Siles’ arm. And a lot of blood, flowing out of a wound in his arm.

‘Oh my God, Scott, am I going to die? Werewolf bite is lethal, right? Am I dying?’

‘You… should be dead already. It’s supposed to kill you instantly. Not that I am not happy about it, but how come you are not dead yet?’

‘I guess there is some use to being a spark. Werewolf bite poison is magical in nature, right? That must be why I am still alive. Derek, you should be grateful for the fact that I am a spark. I am awesome. All I need is bandages and not a coffin, and those are considerably more expensive, I’ll have you know. Especially the fancy mahogany ones, which I would insist upon, if I had died.’

Derek made no reply to this, continued to stare at Stiles with a stunned expression, then turned around and left. Rude.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is very much appreciated <3  
> And I would be super grateful if anybody wanted to help with betaing/grammar checking


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, guys! I was very busy at work :(  
> But here is chapter 4.2, hope you like it! Just one more chapter to go :)

**Chapter 4.2**

The bite was bad enough that Stiles had to go to the infirmary, but not so bad that the nurse would have to report it to the school director. It probably would have been reported at any other school, but not at SMSC. Most students here had quick tempers and supernatural powers, as well as very good healing abilities, so non-life-threatening bites, scratches and minor hexes were usually overlooked. Stiles just said that he got into a fight with one of the kitsunes, which was probable enough. There were several kitsunes at the school, and they were all mean bastards. There was one problem though. Derek still hasn’t contacted Stiles and didn’t even try to apologize for almost killing him (Stiles WOULD be dead if not for his awesome spark abilities).

‘Hey, Erica, where’s Derek? I haven’t seen him in a while and he didn’t show up in Shapeshifting studies today. He missed a pop-up quiz.’

‘Oh, you don’t know,’- Erica’s face soured. -’Derek’s chained up in the dungeon. Ennison said he attacked a student and is a threat to others. I think they want to send him back home this week.’

Stiles hardly heard the end of this explanation before he took off in the direction of the school dungeons.

He got in easily enough, he only had to fill out a visitor form, explaining that he was a friend. Stiles understood why he was let in so easily when he saw Derek. He was chained to the wall with iron manacles. The chain was long enough to allow him free movement within a pretty large radius and to get to another door (leading to a bathroom, Stiles guessed), but it was not long enough to let him get near a visitor. The bars were not lowered down. They were made out of steel, and would be useless against a werewolf as strong as Derek if he really wanted to get out, so the only thing that worked were manacles with very specific spells engraved on them.

‘Derek’

‘Stiles’

‘What are you doing here? How did they found out about the attack? I swear I didn’t say anything to anyone! Or did you attack someone else?’

‘No, I didn’t. Once was enough.’

‘So how did they find out? I am sure Scott didn’t tell anyone either’

‘I told Deaton. I told him I almost bit someone. I didn’t tell him that I actually did bite someone, or he would figure it out. I asked him to chain me up until they can send me home’

‘Why the hell did you do that?!’ - now Stiles was really angry.- ‘They didn’t have to know! Nothing happened to me, look, I am fine! My arm is almost healed!’

‘Stiles, you don’t understand.’- Derek sighed heavily, -’I know you are fine. I just… You would have died. If you weren’t a spark. You would have died, and I would be a murderer. And I can’t live with that.’

‘But it’s not fair -’

‘I just can’t do it, Stiles’ - interrupted Derek, -’I didn’t choose to be in this fucked up situation: a werewolf without an anchor. But I can choose to make sure I don’t kill someone in a fit of rage. I know it’s not fair, but it is what it is. I refuse to become a murderer, and if this means spending the rest of my life in chains or dying early, then so be it. Please, try to understand.’

‘Why didn’t you tell me earlier, about what is going to happen to you?’- Stiles asked, so quietly, that Derek probably wouldn’t have heard him without his werewolf hearing.

‘i didn’t want to worry you. There’s nothing anyone can do about it, so it didn’t make sense to talk about it. I just… I feel sometimes, like I just want you to be happy, you know. Like other things don’t matter, as long as you are happy. I never knew I could feel like this about someone.’ -Derek smiled ruefully. -’I guess that’s just another way in which I am not a normal werewolf.’

‘Listen, I have to go now. I will see you tomorrow’ - Stiles turned around and almost ran out of the dungeon room. He had someone to find.

\-----------------------

‘So yeah, that’s what the situation is right now, and that’s why we have to try your spell’ - Stiles was finding it hard to catch his breath after talking so fast.

Lydia looked nervous, and that was not a good look on her. Stiles has never seen her look nervous before, this was not a good omen for his mission.

‘Stiles, you know I would do anything to help you. I know it is serious, and I don’t want Derek or you to get hurt. But there’s nothing I can do! Yes, the spell is worth trying in this case, but I don’t have all the ingredients I need. I mean, I have enough of all but one. One of the ingredients is Schedule I on the Magical Substances Regulation list. If we apply right now to get it, it will be months before the Magical Substances Administration Board comes to any decision, and even if it gets approved it will cost a lot of money. Anyway, they are not going to approve obtaining a large quantity of a highly controlled substance for a brand new spell, not tested yet on anything but a shoe, to be used on a werewolf who has admitted to almost attacking someone. I am so sorry, Stiles, but it’s just not going to work.’

‘What is it? That ingredient you are talking about?’

‘Angel feather,’- sighed Lydia. -’Prof Chen got a very small amount for me, just enough for the simple trial, and even that was barely legal. In Derek’s case, we would need a whole feather. It’s impossible, I’m telling you’

‘What if we got it ourselves? Would that Board of yours find out?’

‘It’s not “my Board”, -scoffed Lydia, -’And how exactly would we get it? Do you have an angel stashed somewhere?’

‘Can’t we ask the dude at the school for one of his feathers? He is an angel, right? He probably wouldn’t mind much, if we explain the situation to him?’

‘What are you talking about? There is no “angel dude” in our school! Stiles, angels don’t go to normal schools, they hardly ever interact with anyone on our plane, not since the sixteenth century’

‘Then what is he, if not an angel? You know, the guy with huge-ass wings? Curly hair, pretty cheekbones, doesn’t really talk to anyone? Come on, how could you miss someone with huge wings?’

Lydia was staring at him with disbelieving eyes:

‘Stiles, either you have gone completely crazy, or there is something pretty weird going on in this school’

 


End file.
